Devastation
by SunsetsAndSweetDreams
Summary: 'Twilight': When Kate is killed, Abby is devastated. How does life go on when the person you wanted to share it with is taken from you? Kate/Abby two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything associated with _NCIS_. I just like messing with the characters.

**Summary:** Kate/Abby two-shot. When the unthinkable happens and Kate is killed, Abby is devastated. How does life go on when the person you wanted to share it with is taken from you? Sequel to _Show Me_. Spoilers for 'Twilight.'

_**Devastation**_

_**One**_

'Abs?' Kate's voice echoed through their apartment. 'What've you done with my sweater?'

She'd picked out a sweater to wear and left it on the bed, ready to put on, and it wasn't there. Only one person would have any reason to steal her sweater: Abby Sciuto.

'This one?' Abby stuck her head round the bedroom door, holding up the sweater in question.

'Yeah, that one,' Kate nodded, taking it from her girlfriend and pulling it over her head.

'You looked better without it,' Abby said, playfully.

Kate grinned. 'Be that as it may, Abs, I think Gibbs would prefer it if I wore a shirt.'

'Are you sure about that?' Abby smiled, the tiniest hint of jealousy in her voice. 'I've seen the way he looks at you sometimes.'

Kate raised an eyebrow, looking sceptical. 'Well he'll just have to live with the fact that I'd much rather have you,' she said, taking Abby's hands in hers. 'And don't you forget that.' Before Abby could reply, Kate kissed her softly. Abby's hands itched to cup Kate's face and hold the other woman to her but she couldn't move them from Kate's grip. Kate pulled away with a chuckle.

'Come on, Abs. We gotta go,' she said. 'No matter how much he likes me Gibbs will still kill me if we're much longer.'

They'd only come back to the apartment to change. Both of them had slept at the Navy Yard that night, Abby on the futon in her lab and Kate on the floor behind her desk. Their case was manic, barely giving them a moment to breathe. Ari Haswari was back and apparently intent on killing Gibbs.

She let the Goth's hands go and stepped into her pumps, shrugged on her jacket and reached for her keys.

'You ready?' Abby grabbed her purse.

'Yep,' she nodded. 'Let's go.'

-x-

'I'll see you later, Abs,' Kate said as the elevator reached Abby's lab.

Abby bent her head a little to kiss Kate, holding her lips against the brunette's longer than she usually did. She had a bad feeling about something - and Abby's bad feelings normally turned out to be right.

'Be safe,' she whispered against Kate's lips.

Kate ducked her head, pulling away from Abby and then looking up into her emerald eyes. 'I promise,' she said. 'I love you, Abs.'

'I love you too. Just be safe, okay?'

Kate nodded. 'I'll come home tonight, I promise.'

Abby smiled a little nervously but stepped out of the elevator, waving goodbye.

-x-

Hours later, Abby was pacing her lab nervously, waiting for Major Mass Spec to do his work. Android Lust was blaring in the background. She still had a bad feeling, especially after the dream she'd had the night before. The image of Tony's bloody face still haunted her mind, but she had done her best to fight it off.

Meanwhile, Ari Haswari's finger tightened on the trigger. The sound of the gunshot echoed across the rooftops as a single bullet cut a deadly path through the air, flying straight and true towards its target.

'Wow,' Kate was saying. 'I thought I'd die before I ever heard a com-'

The bullet struck its mark and Kate's words died on her lips as her world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**I couldn't resist using the scene in the lab with Abby's hallucination. It's just too sweet to pass up. I've changed a bit of it to fit in with the story but the dialogue is all there. Spoilers for 'Kill Ari, part 1' and possibly 'Kill Ari, part 2'. **

**_Devastation_**

_**Two**_

You would have thought she would have run out of tears by now.

Abby was huddled in the corner of her lab, leant against the cold, smooth metal of one of the cabinets. Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her arms were crossed on top of them. Her head rested on her elbows.

Still, sobs wracked her body. She didn't know how long she'd been there, letting grief ravage her. How long had it been since Gibbs had broken the news and she had fled to the farthest corner of the lab, where she could break down in peace?

Kate was dead.

Kate was dead and she had _known_ it was going to happen.

Well. Not known exactly. But she'd known _something_ would happen. Her bad feelings always turned out to be right.

She wished she had dragged Kate into their bed this morning and held her tight all day, never let her go to that rooftop. She wished she had expressed exactly how bad her bad feeling had been and somehow persuaded Kate to not go to the rooftop at all.

But, she knew, if Kate had not been there, it could be Gibbs lying in Autopsy right now instead. Gibbs had told her the whole story, told her how Kate had thrown herself in front of him and taken a bullet to her vest, only to stand up moments later, apparently safe, and take a bullet to the head.

'You're a mess, girl. Red eyes, no makeup. If ever there was a time for black lipstick, it's now.' Kate's voice echoed through the silent lab. Abby's head snapped up. Great. Now she was hallucinating.

Kate was standing before her, dressed all in black. Her hair was blonde, long and straight, and her makeup gothic, enough to rival Abby's usual get-up. Abby took her lipstick from her purse and applied it carefully. Hallucination or not, Kate was _here_.

'Remember when we first met?' she said. 'I couldn't believe you were a forensic scientist. I thought Goths had bats for pets, or vice versa.'

Abby couldn't help but smile.

'I really liked you, Kate. A lot.' _Not liked, _she thought, _but loved. _But she couldn't bring herself to say it. She'd said it that morning, before Kate had left. She'd meant it, too, but now she couldn't say the words. She tried but they stuck in her throat, choking her.

'Don't start that again,' Kate said, as Abby put her head back in her hands, her smile fading. 'Where're your pigtails? I _love _you in pigtails.' Abby's hands went to her hair, tugging and twisting it into it's usual pigtails. 'That's better,' Kate smiled. 'You were persistent, Abs. First the dark lipstick, then the black nail polish. Next thing you know, I have a tat on my bum. Oh, God. Ducky's gonna see it! I'm dead, and I'm embarrassed.'

Abby couldn't help but laugh. She was seeing things and hearing things and probably going all kinds of crazy but in that moment, Kate was with her, and that made everything okay.

'Abby?' Gibbs' voice was quiet. He wasn't calling her name to find her; he could tell where she was. He was getting her attention.

She looked up. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, her face blotchy despite her reapplied makeup.

'Oh, Abs.' Gibbs knelt down beside her and gathered her into his arms, rocking her gently.

Fresh sobs shook her and she clung to him, digging her fingers into his arms as he held her.

'Abby,' Gibbs murmured. 'I know you loved her. I know it hurts, Abby, but I need you to be strong now, okay? Do you think you can be strong for me?'

She turned her head and looked up at him, her red-rimmed eyes brimming with tears.

'She's gone, Gibbs,' she whispered, her voice cracked. 'She's gone but she was _here_, she was talking to me.' She smiled weakly as she remembered Kate's proclamation. 'She's embarrassed because Ducky's going to see her tat,' she said, a choked laugh escaping her.

Gibbs smiled too. 'I'm sure Ducky will be very professional about it,' he said. 'Come on, Abs.' He rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. As she faced him he put his hands on her shoulders.

'I know it hurts, Abs,' he said. 'But Kate would want you to be strong for her. She would want you to help us find Ari. You think you're up to that?'

Abby met his gaze, sure of herself for the first time in hours.

'I'm up for that,' she said. And she was. She would do whatever it took, whatever she possibly could to help Gibbs catch the bastard that took her girl away from her.

'I'm up for it,' she repeated. 'Kate deserves that much.'


End file.
